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Wednesday, 31 October 2012

Hello and welcome to my first Kindle Fire HD blog post! Yes, Orlygg has gone mobile and wireless, which means more updates of classic retro warhammer action where ever I am in the world!

Today I am typing from Great Yarmouth on a holiday with the non-leadhead and the children. I am snatching a moment or two to share these brilliant images of Dungeon Quest miniatures that I received recently. Hopefuly, when I check back later this post will have worked!

Big thanks to Michael from Germany for sending in these great images of thes iconic miniatures. So if you have anything that you feel will make a great addition to this blog just email me here.

Sunday, 28 October 2012

Long years ago, when I was young and you were even younger (or, at least, what feels like long years ago) I posted an entry on this very blog discussing the idea of hosting an old school, Oldhammer painting competition. It created quite a buzz if I don't mind saying... Refresh your memories here.

Well, since suggesting the competition I have a new daughter and a new job. Subsequently, my free time is best described as 'minimal' or even 'non-existent'. I must confess to having dropped the ball on tying things up as they should have been tied up (read, declare a winner) but I wanted the competition to be the very anti-thesis of those exclusive, snotty affairs that spring up in so many other places, with of course the emphasis very much on the celebration of retro fantasy and third edition Warhammer. I wanted things to be easy going.

Perhaps my easy-going attitude was wrong? Who knows? It is very easy to stand back from a distance and state.. you should have done this Orlygg or you should have done that!

Hindsight is wonderfully informative!

When I think about it, when this competition was launched we didn't really have Oldhammer. No T-Shirts (which I am wearing as I type, coincedently ), no forums, no nothing... And the fact that we have actually managed to hold a competition at all, and got to vote for a winner at all is nothing short of a miracle.

THE WINNER

Without any further ado, I gives me great pleasure to share with you the winner of the competition! Geoff Sims, A K A Wyldcat with his wonderful Angus McHammer. It was the entry I voted for because I felt that the model, story and painting epitomised the Citadel feel of the late 80s.

Exactly what we were looking for...

Sorry about the image, I couldn't extract the images from the Word document they were sent in on.
Geoff, if you are reading , email me some original images so I can replace these.

It was the black and white chequers that sealed the deal for me. Very evocative!

Goblin definitions of “war” and “games” differ only
slightly. A game usually involves finding a bunch of other guys, preferably
smaller than you, and beating them to a pulp before running off with all their
money, equipment and pretty goblin ladies. War is much the same, except it
usually starts with comments about someone’s mother. To be good at goblin games
you really have to throw your whole self into the action, Angus McHammer does
so with gusto. Not usually so good at extracting himself from the ensuing
crater he nevertheless makes the most of his one moment of participation,
hurling himself into the fray, scattering friend and foe alike in a spirit of
joyful abandon. Occasionally he hits his target, more often than not he ends up
wrapped in his own chain, reduced to a spectator of the great goblin games.

Alignment:
Competitive, malignant but not necessarily evil.

Base size: 20mmx20mm

M

WS

BS

S

T

W

I

A

Ld

Int

Cl

WP

Pts

4

2

3

3

3

1

2

1

5

5

5

5

30

Special rules:

Angus is a goblin fanatic and subject to the special rules
printed in the Warhammer 3rd edition rulebook (p98).

Angus McHammer costs 30 points. RUNNER UPS

We had a joint second, between Darnog and Mad Melikor, so I include the both of those too.

Darnog, he's dank you know!? Exquisite painting!

Melikor, he's mad you know!?

So? Did you enter the competition? Or, perhaps you were just a bystander enjoying the action as it (very slowly, in drips and drabs, then splutters followed by frantic bouts of activity) developed or is this the first you have heard of it?

Thoughts please!

And a huge, huge thank you to Treps for offering the prizes in the first place. Six wonderful goblins for one, very special, golden one!

When you think of France you think of the birth of liberty, the finest wines, the gastronome and, of course, art of the highest quality. It comes as no surprise then that miniatures of a retro nature are also of the highest standard in the country.

Remy Tremblay is a prolific sculptor with many exceptional designs to his credit. I have been involved in the world of tabletop gaming for over 25 years and have rarely seen such exquisite work. Check out what he has been up to lately at his blog http://remytremblay.sculpture.over-blog.com/.

He is also a Heroquest fan and emailed me an astonishing set of images the document his miniatures. Considering he has worked on plastic models produced in the late 80s, his skills are very evident here. The colours are rich and vibrant and the painting quality is outstanding. I feel that the quality of my own painting will improve just by looking at his, and trying to copy his subtle colour blends, especially on the fabrics.

Well here they are for your enjoyment.

The intrepid adventurers off to combat Morcar. I love the bases here and I honest cannot be sure if they are sculpted and painted or just exceptional paint jobs!

Gargoyle, or Bloodthirster (take your pick) painted up in glorious red and brown. Old school Khorne has never looked finer.

Even after twenty odd years, these mummy sculpts are still some of the best available to the thrifty gamer and painter. They ooze menace- its the eyes... the eyes! Beautiful highlighting on the bandages too!

Fimir (or Firmir?) Immaculately painted - its amazing that these are just 80s plastic mould injected models, and this is what Remy has achieved with them. Incredible skills!

All I can say is thank you to Remy for sharing his work with us. The question is, does he have anymore retro stuff hidden away?

Friday, 26 October 2012

The Realm of Chaos exists as a setting for glorious Warhammer. It also exists in a more literal sense - the almost unfathomable depths of the 'deep web'. It is here, as I have little time for painting at the moment, that I seem to spend my time, searching for lost gems or quality work by other fans of our period.

I have stumbled across an archived thread on Warseer from 2008 by one Vintagephreak who posted a truly remarkable series of images documenting his painted (that's right, PAINTED) Realm of Chaos army using models released by Citadel and Marauder between 1987 and 1992. Who Vitagephreak is (or indeed, was) is a mystery bar the fact that he resided (or indeed, may still) reside in Norway.

Vintagephreak? Are you out there? Your work and your collection is ASTONISHING!

Here is what I have managed to find.

Enjoy!

Chaos Champions grouped together as a unit. I am fairly sure that the scythe wielder on the end is a colour copy of an original 80s 'Eavy Metal. A wonderful scheme and one I shall hopefully copy.

The always varied and interesting chaos thugs. A fair sized unit with an obvious Khornate flavour.

A horde of lead...

A unit of Marauder dwarfs. I love the fact that he used woodland green classic bases like I do for RoC models.

More thugs and a converted standard bearer.

Skrag is blood red armour. Note: I love the goblinmasteresque mushroom. I must have a go at one of those one day.

Want one!

Want one!

I am a BIG fan of '80s minotaurs. So much character and variation. Unlike the model examples!

You can smell them, can't you!

Love this model... I recall Colin Dixon doing a fantastic version of this beast in the early 80s.

Wednesday, 24 October 2012

I often receive emails from people requesting resources or information relating to 1980s Warhammer and Rogue Trader. Rarely, do these requests come with links to check out 'modest' collections of related figures. When I clicked the link on Florian's email I was blown away by the quality of his work and immediately knew that readers of this blog would want to share in the Old School goodness.

On previous posts I have discussed by hope to own fully painted armies for all forces for Third Edition and fully painted copies of the Big Box Games circa 1988-1992. Well, here was someone who had accomplished one of those dreams of mine - a fully painted set of Heroquest minis! Not only fully painted mind, but very much in the spirit of those classic Mike McVey paintjobs of yesteryear.

The pictures that follow need no introduction or captions. Drink in the old school Citadel goodness and feel inspired (if a not a envious)...

Absolutely outstanding I am sure that you will agree. Whilst researching these images I found these two beauties on Dakka Dakka that fans of the period my enjoy. So I include them here also.

Old School Blisters - do you remember the walls of these? Rack after rack of lead potential!

Monday, 22 October 2012

Check out this beautiful victory! Recently received via the Royal Mail and waiting to join the other creatures of chaos in the 'Jar of Eternal Stench' (Dettol Jam Jar).

Eight Realm of Chaos Beastmen, seven of which are 1989 Bob Olley sculpts. Bought by me for £6.84 about a week ago. Yet at the same time many of these models were available singly for £4 or even £5 and people were buying, yet these beauties were ignored!!

Such madness, yet it happens from time to time on eBay, doesn't it?

£6.84 was robbery really. I metaphorically stole these from their previous owner due to the vaguaries of auctions and I am thoroughly pleased with myself.

Am I alone in this? Or do other bloggers have similar tales of insane victories and bizarre bargains? Can you beat my beastmen for a good online deal?

Sunday, 21 October 2012

Hello and welcome back to our ongoing series of articles that tracks the history of Third Edition Warhammer through the articles, releases and miniatures GW put out between 1987 and 1992.

Today, its the last few items from WD 96. The Slann models and the subsequent army list published alongside.

SLANN

INFANTRY AND COLD ONES
Originally I hated the Slann. I thought the models looked gawkish and naff. But the years have tempered my views and now I really rather like them. To begin with, we have the standard Slann foot soldiers in all their Aztec inspired glory. The sculpting has a lot to be desired but then again what was the concept? Frog men! No wonder that in later years, they were largely abandoned in favour of the lizard man. Still, the set of sculpts are varied and interesting. I'd imagine painting them must be fun (though collecting them would require deep, deep pockets) . The cold ones are also basic but in character with the infantry that I'd still not mind fielding them in small quantities. Of particular note would be the lobotomised human slaves. Only two sculpts but a fun concept nonetheless.

SLANN COLD ONE WARHOUNDS
A brilliant sculpt and one I have never see on eBay. Loads of character in the handler and the hounds, if indeed that is the best noun to describe them, are positively chomping at the bit to get stuck in!

SLANN WIZARD AND BEARERS
What can I say? I WANT THIS MODEL. I have lost time and time again on this one. £50 or more is a reasonable price for this rare set. Not only do the models look great as a diorama but they'd also make a fantastic centre piece of any army. Though not as obese as the later GW versions, this wizard packs a characterful punch, especially considering that he is being carried by more labotomised slaves. One day my friends... One day...

ARMY LIST
To support the release of the models, WD published a slightly difference version of the armylist, this time reflecting an mercenary force of Slann roaming the Old World looking for, well, who knows? Funny thing is, they can ally with anyone but the Bretonnians. This raises a really interesting concept of a small Slann force, perhaps a leader and a few units rather than a grand third edition army.

Certainly achievable for a few hundred quid!

Anyway, for the interested here is the link to the scanned pdf of the armylist.

ORLYGG'S OPUS
I love to blog. Especially as I have a job that sees me spending long hours in front of a computer, it only takes a second to load up Blogger and you're away for those five minutes you need to rest your mind until you are ready to get back to the planning or report writing. In the interest of keeping things tidy I have a separate blog for my Rogue Trader and Dark Future work.

I am please to say that after a week of inactivity, I have a new update about Dark Future Supplements here.

Saturday, 20 October 2012

The hall had the familiar scent of all public buildings of its type; dust, damp and the overpowering smell of barely disinfected toilets. Condensation clung lazily against the Crittall windows as the silent, shuffling men wandered despondently to the vacant chairs that formed a rather haphazard circle in the centre of the room. Here and there, an aluminium chair leg scrapped loudly against the 1960s wood pannelling that made up the uneven floor, the sudden noise startling the room's occupants into further despondency...In time, they had all settled themselves down on their seats and unknowingly toyed with fray hems and awkward zips as they made the most of the primitive comfort. There was a short nervous cough and a short, nervous man stood unsteadily to his feet. He cleared his throat and then spoke to the room at large."I am a leadhead and I last painted a miniature over two months ago..."

Advert for Third Edition from WD96.

If there was such an organisation as Leadhead's Anonymous, I am sure that I'd be their shining star after recent times. After months of living the life of a 'House Husband' (read, plenty of time for painting) and recently starting work again as a Primary School Teacher in East Essex (read, no time at all for painting at all) I would exhibit positive signs. The modelling table stands unkempt and uncared for; with the rows of models untouched by hand or paint, packages left unopened in great number while the astonishing collection of late 80s and early 90s GW literature slowly moulders away.

But no more! No more I say...! I must force myself away from that dreaded, souless circle in that miserable (and of course, thoroughly metaphorical) village hall and get back to business, even if its only going to be for one day a week!

What to discuss then?

ELF WARDANCERS

If you remember, we are currently working through the releases and rules discussed in issue 96 of White Dwarf. That's December 1987! And mind, 80s haircuts are certainly popular in the forests of the Old World judging by some of these Jes Goodwin classics.

Wardancers! I bet they'd love a disco.

Let us look at this set in a little more detail. The first thing that strikes is just how lovely these models are. They have all the graceful, lithe shape that you'd expect from the great Goodwin and the models look very dynamic and purposeful when compared to the elves we discussed last time. I am pleased to say I have a large number of these sculpts in my collection and they will (one day) form a considerable part of my wood elf army (when I get around to starting it). My favourite model out of this collection? Without doubt Gildorn (who, sadly I do not yet own). I love the pose, the armour design, the position of the weapon and the hair cut that resembles something Gaz Top (remember him?) would have constructed out of hair wax if he had been an uncontrollable acid casualty.

Painting wise, we are continuing to see the shift away from simplistic schemes and techniques towards something more 'Eavy Metal. The blending on the flesh is certainly something that I would hope to emulate though I have never been a fan of the greys used on the elves at this time. For me, they should be clothed in the mellow shades of summer or the serene colours of autumn rather than the ubiquitous tone of the conservative politician - think John Major circa 1992.

I have also included the rules published in the issue, you know, back in the day when GW understood the importance of giving full rules away with a range of new models so you could just buy them, paint them and field them without the need of buying this month's version of the associated army book! I love the fact that the wardancers have so many attack modes. Deadly!